First Star, Worst Star: April 19, 2015

You can’t win em all, and it turns out if you’re Buffalo you literally can’t win anything. But YOU have won and your reward is another First Star, Worst Star!

FIRST STAR

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL WE WON!! WE WON!! WE WON!! WE WON!! WHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

The people of Edmonton haven’t been this excited since they changed the name of our summer fair back to K-Days.

I’m honestly still speechless. There was no scenario in which the Oilers SHOULD have won this lottery. There were three or four other teams that were PURPOSELY tanking, teams that haven’t collected first overall picks like Beanie Babies and, much like actual Beanie Babies, have so far gotten absolutely zero return out of their initial investment. AND YET there they were, strolling in to collect another golden ticket, going from pitied and mocked to reviled and chastised in the span of 2 seconds. It was the best heel turn since Hulk Hogan teamed up with the Outsiders to form the NWO.

And to make things even better the Oilers weren’t even purposely bad this year! They are just horribly mismanaged and ended up falling backwards into another amazing young player! YOU CAN’T COACH INEPTITUDE LIKE THIS!

Part of me feels sorry for Sabres fans right now. Your GM purposely dismantled your team, all but assuring you’d get a franchise cornerstone to build around. You cheered as the losses continued to pile up, a season in the toilet that would be COMPLETELY worth it in the end when you drafted the best junior player since Crosby! And now you have to settle for a guy who would be the number one pick in any other draft year, and who seems like he’s going to be super fun to watch, moreso off the ice than on.

Wait, sorry, did I say I felt sorry for Sabres fans? Ehhh, I think they’ll be fine. And on top of that Americans are used to always coming in second to Canadians so I’m sure it was an easy pill to swallow!

Also it’s nice to know that the ghost of Steve Tambellini still haunts those Toronto-based studios.

WELCOME TO EDMONTON CONOR! No pressure or anything, but if you could please lead the Oilers to the playoffs within 2 or 3 years that would be great! THANKS!

WORST STAR

Honestly I’m still so happy from the Oilers winning the lottery that I can’t even think of anything negative right now. EVERYTHING IS AMAZING AND HAVE YOU GUYS NOTICED HOW BLUE THE SKY IS THESE DAYS? ISN’T THE WORLD JUST AWESOME?? THE 2015-16 SEASON CAN’T START SOON ENOUGH! MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID MCDAVID!

Happy McDavid day everyone! May the McDavid be with you! A merry McDavid to all and to all a McDavid!

107 Comments |

Oiler fan here. It sucks that this is the only way we can get good players. (By draft). But as painful as this season was to watch it was good to see the boys trying to win. We got very lucky yesterday. I was rooting for leafs if we didn’t get it cause buffalo and Phoenix’s tank job was embarrassing. You guys are still going to get a top notch player. Hope all goes well

Part of me feels sorry for Sabres fans right now. Your GM purposely dismantled your team, all but assuring you’d get a franchise cornerstone to build around.

Murray did indeed do everything humanly possible to ensure the Sabres tanked harder than any other team. There was a point in the season when it looked like the Sabres might not finish last. Murray moved out player after play for futures, including one trade that sent a princely sum to the ‘peg for Evander Kane, who was out for the season. Murray’s commitment to deep-sixing his team is truly something for the NHL hall of shame. However, the Sabres had the #1 ranked prospect system in the league (by hockeysfuture) last summer and have added to it considerably this season. They could be a very deep team in a few seasons once that talent matures.

Some thought this would finally be the year the Oilers made the playoffs, but they finished just 8 points ahead of Buffalo! MacTavish was clearly comitted to tanking. He stuck with two inadequate backup goalies all season instead of bringing in a competent starter. Still, what he did pales in comparison to Murray. The real difference is that the Oilers prospect system is rated #25 in the league and MacT didn’t add much to it.

Given the Oilers drafting record, there’s little reason to expect that they’ll find much talent in the draft this year outside of the first round. In a few years, when Buffalo’s stacked system is injecting talent into every position of the Sabres, the Oilers will have their lottery picks and, if they’re very lucky, mediocre and overpriced free agents backing them up. They’re just as likely to be chasing another lottery pick unfortunately.

That’s the difference between Murray and MacTavish. MacTavish has burned his team to the ground and left nothing but scorched earth in his wake. Murray has carefully strewn his fields with primo organic fertilizer. The Sabres may smell a bit worse right now, but things are going to look very different in a few seasons.

Connor McDavid is not going to drag the Oilers out of this pit on his own, even if he’s the second coming of Gretzky. A championship team does need stars, but it needs to develop competent talent to surround those stars with, and the Oilers have completely failed to do that. It’s time for a change. Fire Lowe. Fire MacTavish.

Your an idiot! In what way has MacT burned the team to the ground? He has been on the Job for two years and I would say that in his two years the team has progressed. Has he made mistakes? You better believe it but he has also made some good moves. Give credit where credit is do!

I didn’t think it could get better than last night wining the McDavid lotto. But hearing the Flames b1tch and talll about how Gagner 2.0 (Johnny G) is just as going to lead them to anything makes it so much sweeter. Keep complaining Flamers!

I actually think the flames have done a decent job of building a nice middling playoff bubble team for the next decade. Congrats!

This is when tanking backfires, especially for the Sabres. Tanking does not guarantee you the #1 spot especially when you have those Oilers hanging around the bottom with you because you know they have a chance of moving up even with less odds. Still Buffalo does get Eichel so it’s not that terrible. There needs to be a rule to prevent a team winning multiple times consecutively or increasing the others teams odds. Some say Bettman was shaking his head and thinking not this team again. I would love to see McDavid play for the Oilers and still end up in last place that would be too funny or him pull a Lindros and force the Oilers to trade him. The Oiler fans deserve McDavid but not the management team or the owner.

Exactly. Congrats to Oilers fans for getting McDavid, but shame on the management team. The bigger problem is that management will be patting themselves on the back for building the right way and this lottery win will justify years of ineptness.

I would caution Oilers fans not to count their chickens before they are hatched and to remain humble. We heard the same bluster and bravado after the Oilers added Hall and RNH? Did the Oilers fans and organization learn anything over the last five years?
The Oilers future looks much better than it did a week ago, no doubt. The brighter future has nothing to do with Oilers management but everything to do with a lottery machine. Remember that and act accordingly.

I really dont understand what you guys are so worked up upon. Crosby has been with the Penguins for almost 10 years now, and only has one stanley cup so far. Calm down, you get to draft a generational player, not a cup winning team.

Funny. Read OL the day before the McDavid draw and you’d think the Oilers organization was the worst in the world. It’s not uncommon to have 200 comments that they need to blow it up, can the management team and trade the too small forwards. A day later they’re telling the world how great they will be (someday) and how their world will change with McDavid. At last look, he doesn’t play goal or defence, two abysmal areas. The Oilers are the only fans who are arrogant while tanking 9 years in a row, being the doormat of the league and heading the wrong direction despite their high picks. And yet you mock the Flames, a team you finished 30+ points behind this year. Good luck.

The great thing about being associated with the Oilers is that you are always the focus. Calgary, Vancouver, Buffalo… nobody really cares. Even with the flames and canucks in the play-offs, their fans are focused on the Oil. Your tears of envy are quite sweet.

This is hilarious the people who lose the most from McDavid going to Edmonton is all NHL owners and players. Just for the reason of salary cap and profit sharing both would have massively increased if McDavid had of went to Leafs than Oilers but Oilers are still a huge increase over Buffalo or Arizona.

I am a Leaf granted but I am excited that McDavid went to Edmonton and I hope he brings more stability to that franchise. Being the only 2 Canadian teams that were in the lottery we should have been routing for each other. The second I saw Toronto didn’t get him I was routing for Edmonton not hating on them when they won.

I never expected the Leafs to win McDavid it would have been a nice pleasant surprise and I sure hope the Leafs dont offer their 2 first rounders Reilly Gards and Bibeau for him either. Although I know that is a possibility depending on how bad Shanny really wants that pick.

Why do people keep thinking that the city of Buffalo is upset? We’re a little bummed that we didn’t win the 20% chance of getting McDavid, but are thrilled to be getting Eichel. Most scouts don’t have a big separation between McDavid and Eichel. And with the way the NHL has been going (back to pre-lockout form), Eichel may have a lot easier time adjusting to the NHL.

The entire point in finishing last was to guarantee we get 1 of the 2…and we are.